An Indiana Roofing Company Built Around Family
Who is Bill?
Hi there, my name is William "Bill" S. Connett and I began my roofing career back in 1940. On my first job, the manager took me out to a jobsite and showed me the house and walked me through the materials; immediately following, the manager was getting ready to leave and I had to stop him. I yelled out, "I've never put a roof on before, isn't someone going to show me how?" The manager turned to me and said, "The instructions are on the back side of the bundle of shingles, just don't put them all on one side." Then left. As I sat down and read the instructions over and over, from that moment on I was a roofer.
Bill's History
I worked for that company a total of 10 years and ended my career there as an installer and sales representative completing most of the installations myself. Back in 1949 - 1950 my brother, Gene Connett, decided to help me with a barn roof installation and fell off the roof (I was on the other side) and he ended up breaking both his legs. Shortly after that, he told me that he was going back into the Marine Corps full-time since it was safer.
I decided to start my company in 1951, Bill's Roofing. Specializing in mostly re-roofs with Globe Double T-Lock Shingles. I had three sons by this time and a fourth that would come later: William "Bill Jr." C. Connett born in 1940, Lawrence "Larry" E. Connett born in 1946, Donald "Don" A. Connett born in 1949, and Richard E. Connett coming into the picture a little later. My boy Bill Jr. started helping me when he was 9 years old carrying a few shingles at a time, then Larry started working for me and helping Bill Jr. when he was fifteen, and my last boy Don started working with us when he was sixteen. Larry and Don both left and served our country in the Marine Corps; Larry served for a year from 1966-1967 and Don served from 1968-1971. Both came back and worked for me at Bill's Roofing after their military service.
I had four rules that I put in effect and held firm to each of them:
1.) No smoking on the roof
2.) No foul language on the jobsite
3.) Clean-up the ground after each day of work
4.) No yelling at each other while at work
Back in my day, we used brackets and 2" x 6" plank boards for scaffolding. My boys and I carried the 80 lbs bundles of shingles by hand up the ladder for each and every job. There were no broom trucks, laddervaters, mechanical ladders, conveyors, etc… It helped to keep my weight down.
40 years after installing my first shingle, in 1980, emphysema got a hold of me and my health started to decline. I focused more on the payroll and paperwork while my boys handled the labor side of things. I said goodbye in 1987 splitting the company 4 ways between my 4 boys.
Thank you for becoming a part of my company's story!
Please note that there is a 3% convenience fee on purchases made with credit cards.
Financing Available
Through Hearth
Ossian, IN
Fort Wayne, IN
Bluffton, IN
Markle, IN
Decatur, IN
Aboite Township, IN
Leo, IN
Zanesville, IN
Uniondale, IN
Yoder, IN
New Haven, IN
Huntington, IN
Columbia City, IN
Auburn, IN
Huntertown, IN
and surrounding areas
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